Israel Faces Dilemma After Release Video Of Hostages

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s government faced mounting pressure Friday to strike a deal with Hamas after an Israeli group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza released a disturbing video recording of the capture of five female Israeli soldiers.

The women were taken from a military base during the October 7 attacks by Hamas, in which some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 abducted.

Israeli television aired the previously withheld footage of the five pajama-clad female army conscripts being seized by Hamas gunmen during the raid that triggered the Gaza war.

The three-minute video showed the women sitting on the ground, some bruised and bloodied, with their hands tied, after their capture from the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel.

Taken from a two-hour video filmed on body cameras by Hamas fighters during the attack, the footage was previously released by Hamas.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum obtained it months ago from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which had previously edited it to exclude the most disturbing scenes.

The forum said the families made the footage public in an attempt to pressure the government into reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would free their loved ones.

GOVERNMENT APPEALS FOR SUPPORT

Yet the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the release of the subtitled three-minute clip to national and international media as an opportunity to shore up support.

“These girls are still in the captivity of Hamas. Please don’t look away,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer told reporters. “Watch the film. Support Israel in bringing our people home.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the ambassadors of Ireland, Norway, and Spain, whom it summoned to protest at their governments’ preparations to recognize a Palestinian state, would be shown the video in a special screening.

The footage showed the young women, all of them stunned and some bloodied, being bound and bundled into a jeep.

“I have friends in Palestine,” one of the conscripts, 19-year-old Naama Levy, pleaded in English. One of the gunmen could be heard shouting back in Arabic: “You are dogs! We will step on you, dogs!”

Another gunman tells a captive: “You’re beautiful.”

Hamas defended its fighters’ conduct and called the video a bid to manipulate public opinion.

HAMAS FOOTAGE RECOVERED

The Forum, which represents relatives of the 124 people – mostly civilians – still held by Hamas, said the footage was recovered from bodycams worn by gunmen who attacked the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel, where the women served as surveillance spotters.

Hamas has denied allegations of sexual abuse by its men, despite what experts view as overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and said the video was meant to advance “fabricated narratives.”

“The female soldiers were treated according to the ethics of our resistance, and no mistreatment of those soldiers in this unit was proven,” Hamas said in a statement

The Hamas-led Gaza health authorities claim more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed without differentiating between Hamas fighters and civilians. Israel’s military says 286 Israeli soldiers have also died in the war.

Netanyahu’s government says continued military pressure will force Hamas to yield. Hostage families fear their loved ones will not survive and that the women captives could be raped.

“So please, please do whatever you can to bring them home,” said Orly Gilboa, whose daughter Daniela is a hostage. “They suffer there every minute, every second. And every minute is important.”

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